- Source
- Herodotus. Godley, Alfred Denis, editor. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, Ltd., 1920-1925 (printing).
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.21.1-8.21.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Explains the communication system established between Artemision and Thermopylae, and notes that upon receiving news of Leonidas' defeat, the Greek fleet immediately retreated in an orderly fashion.
οἳ μὲν δὴ ταῦτα ἔπρησσον, παρῆν δὲ ὁ ἐκ Τρηχῖνος κατάσκοπος. ἦν μὲν γὰρ ἐπʼ Ἀρτεμισίῳ κατάσκοπος Πολύας, γένος Ἀντικυρεύς, τῷ προσετέτακτο, καὶ εἶχε πλοῖον κατῆρες ἕτοιμον, εἰ παλήσειε1 ὁ ναυτικὸς στρατός, σημαίνειν τοῖσι ἐν Θερμοπύλῃσι ἐοῦσι· ὣς δʼ αὕτως ἦν Ἀβρώνιχος ὁ Λυσικλέος Ἀθηναῖος καὶ παρὰ Λεωνίδῃ ἕτοιμος τοῖσι ἐπʼ Ἀρτεμισίω ἐοῦσι ἀγγέλλειν τριηκοντέρῳ, ἤν τι καταλαμβάνῃ νεώτερον τὸν πεζόν.2
While they were doing these things, the scout from Trachis arrived. For there had been stationed at Artemision a scout named Polyas, an Anticyrian by birth, who was commanded, and had an oared vessel ready, to signal to those at Thermopylae if the fleet should suffer a reverse; and in just the same way, Abronychus, the son of Lysicles, an Athenian, was ready with Leonidas to report to those at Artemision with a thirty-oared galley if any disaster should overtake the land army.
οὗτος ὦν ὁ Ἀβρώνιχος ἀπικόμενός σφι ἐσήμαινε τὰ γεγονότα περὶ Λεωνίδην καὶ τὸν στρατὸν αὐτοῦ. οἳ δὲ ὡς ἐπύθοντο ταῦτα, οὐκέτι ἐς ἀναβολὰς ἐποιεῦντο τὴν ἀποχώρησιν,3 ἐκομίζοντο δὲ ὡς ἕκαστοι ἐτάχθησαν, Κορίνθιοι πρῶτοι, ὕστατοι δὲ Ἀθηναῖοι.
So this Abronychus, having arrived, reported to them the things that had happened concerning Leonidas and his army. And when they learned these things, they no longer delayed their retreat, but withdrew in the order they had been stationed, the Corinthians first, and the Athenians last.
- 8.21.1εἰ παλήσειε
The aorist active optative third-person singular of παλαίω (literally 'to wrestle' or 'to struggle', used here metaphorically to mean 'to come to grief' or 'to suffer defeat'). In the conditional clause, it expresses a hypothetical future possibility ('if the fleet should suffer a reverse').
- 8.21.1ἤν τι καταλαμβάνῃ νεώτερον τὸν πεζόν
A conditional clause introduced by ἤν (the Ionic form of ἐάν) with the present subjunctive καταλαμβάνῃ. The comparative neuter adjective νεώτερον ('something newer') is a standard euphemism in classical Greek for a political change, misfortune, or disaster. The whole clause means 'if any disaster should overtake the land army.'
- 8.21.2οὐκέτι ἐς ἀναβολὰς ἐποιεῦντο τὴν ἀποχώρησιν
The middle verb ποιεῦντο (imperfect middle third-person plural of ποιέω) combined with the prepositional phrase ἐς ἀναβολάς ('into delays') and the accusative object τὴν ἀποχώρησιν ('retreat') forms an idiomatic expression meaning 'to put off or delay one's retreat'. With the negative adverb οὐκέτι, it means 'they no longer delayed their retreat.'